Fatigue
by Lavender Valentine
Summary: Do demons sleep? And when they sleep, do they dream?


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**Disclaimer:** I don't own these characters; I merely torture them in order to satisfy my evil, twisted desires. Sorry 'bout that.

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**Fatigue**

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Do demons sleep? And when they sleep, do they dream? Rather than leave the question for the philosophers, I longed to find the answer on my own. I wanted Sleep to wrap me in her arms, tangle my silver hair around her fingers, place her somnolent kisses deep within my mouth so that I might know the delicious sensations she bestowed upon the fortunate ones.

Instead, Sleep spurned me, and I received the embrace of Fatigue instead. And with Fatigue came the others, their voices echoing, sounding unnaturally loud to my sensitive ears. _Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru,_ they called, bidding me to venture among their forbidden paths.

Too weary to fight, too battered to resist, I acquiesced. And I _hated_ it – hated them, hated their siren song. My strongest hatred, however, was reserved for myself, for the creature I had become.

Where did that youkai go, that proud and solitary figure who cared for nothing and no one? Of a certainty, he was no longer walking the land. Indeed, he was no longer anything at all, reduced to an empty husk in a dimly-lit room. I gazed into a mirror, and saw that in his place sat an unnatural being who wished for death, if only in order to rest.

There would be no rest for me.

_Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru…_

My body shook as I scooped the remaining pills into the palm of my hand. This was the last of my supply; I would have to obtain more. As the voices grew louder, I swallowed the pills and felt my self-hatred increase ten-fold.

**……**

In broad daylight, I traveled openly to the forbidden place. It wasn't always like this; initially, I was careful to keep my activities hidden. I crept under the cover of night, the smells and sounds of the city masking my presence. It's always this way in the beginning, they told me; everyone conceals their vices. What they didn't tell me was that eventually, I would no longer care. Why should I be concerned, when the faces I saw were often familiar? Sango, Koga, Miroku…they were but a select few of the souls I encountered. Sometimes I would find Rin, remarkably grown. And for a while, Kagura was a constant presence; it was too bad she had fallen out of favor of late. My brother's woman, Kagome, had all but replaced her.

I did not find any of them today; neither did I see the legions of strangers who frequently visited such haunts. Instead, I saw my brother, and it was almost too much to bear, for he was holding a large sack of the pills. Acknowledging my presence with little more than a nod, Inu-Yasha turned shame-filled eyes away from me. It was a painful admission, knowing the two of us had fallen so low. With a soul ripped into pieces, I completed my loathsome task and returned to my darkened room.

**……**

The stranger in the mirror had dark circles beneath his eyes, marring the flawless skin. Silver hair needed brushing – who was this youkai with the disheveled appearance? I closed my eyes, and begged for an end to this miserable existence. How I longed to rest, for an eternity if possible!

How long I lay there, I do not know. I didn't bother to open my eyes when someone entered my room, for why should I care? I had nothing left to give, nothing left to take.

"Sesshomaru, what has happened?"

That familiar voice…was it really her, the one who had given me life? No, let it be anyone but her! I thought my humiliation could be no worse, but I was wrong, so very, very wrong. Tears, an indulgence I had never allowed in previous times, found their way through closed eyelids and leaked down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry," I said, my throat tightening as I buried my face in her lap. "I have disappointed you, failed you. You wanted me to be magnificent, and instead I am _this_."

"My poor Sesshomaru," she said mournfully. Her arms surrounded me, encasing me in their warmth. "What have they done to you?"

I confessed all, baring my soul to her censure. I told her of the pills, of the visits to that dreadful place, of my overwhelming _fatigue_! No detail was spared, for now that my emotional dam had broken, hell itself could not stop the raging torrent.

At some point during the course of my barely-coherent tale, I ventured to open my eyes and look up at the one woman who truly knew my every thought. The love reflecting upon her face left me reeling with both awe and astonishment. "You forgive me?" I choked. It was almost too much, knowing this woman still cared.

"You are mine, are you not?" she smiled tenderly. "How could I cease to love you?" She eased me onto my pillow, then tucked the blankets around my shoulders. "You have told me a tragic story, Dear One, and my heart aches for your pain. Will you sleep, and allow the one who loves you best to take care of the matter?"

"Will you?" I whispered hopefully. "Can you truly put an end to this madness?"

"Of course," she whispered back. Her soft lips placed a kiss upon my forehead. "Am I not powerful in my own right?"

She was. The knowledge comforted me to my very core, filling me with long-absent satisfaction. At peace for the first time in so many years, I allowed my eyelids to fall closed, and I slept.

**……**

The door to the house was kicked open, and an angry woman stormed inside.

"Hey, you can't come in here!" An astonishingly beautiful woman with curly red hair and an hourglass figure tried to block her entrance. "Who do you think you are, anyway?"

Another woman jumped to her feet. "You idiot!" Sango cuffed the red-haired woman. "Show some respect!" She turned to the furious figure before her and bowed deeply. "Creator, we are honored with your presence," Sango said humbly.

"Don't try to sweet-talk your way out of this one, Sango," the woman said sharply. "Sesshomaru told me everything, and I mean _everything_," she emphasized. "You – _all of you_ – have been using him for mindless sex! He's been popping hundreds of male sexual-enhancement pills just to keep up his stamina! And pairing him with every character imaginable! How could you condone this kind of activity?"

"Please, do not cast blame upon us," Miroku put himself forward. "Truly, oh Great One, we were helpless to prevent it! We are at the mercy of those who use us for their own nefarious schemes!"

"Shut up, Man-Whore," the woman replied. She looked around the room, gazing pointedly at the condoms and empty bottles of Viagra littering the floor. "Knowing you, you probably encouraged it. And you!" she snapped, gesturing to the beautiful redhead, "I've never seen _you_ before," she accused.

"I'm Kiria, Princess of the Amazons! Sesshomaru took me as his mate after I defeated him in combat!" the redhead announced proudly, brushing back her flowing locks. She blinked her emerald eyes. "He was also entranced by the beauty of my songs."

"Riiight," the woman rolled her eyes in disgust. "Now listen up!" she said, her back stiffening. The others straightened to attention, knowing their Creator meant business. "You guys have nearly killed Sesshomaru! He's a youkai, not a non-stop sex machine, so give the poor demon a break! If I find out that any of you are disturbing his rest, I'll whip out my eraser!"

"No!" Koga gasped, shocked at the threat.

"Yes," the Creator responded firmly. "Any further questions?" she asked, glaring at the group.

Kiria chose to speak. "I don't have to take orders from you," she said haughtily. "You're not _my_ Creator. Erase away – I'm not scared!"

The Creator narrowed her eyes. "So that's how you're going to play it, hm? Fine." Her lips formed an evil smile. "I have two words for you: _character death_. That's right," she continued, "either you stop making him participate in your little pornographic adventures, or I'm writing him out of the manga!"

"You wouldn't!" Kiria screeched.

"I would," the Creator snarled. "I'll axe him, just like I did with – "

"No spoilers!" Kiria howled, clamping her hands over her ears. "La, la, I can't hear you!"

"But he's so beautiful," Kagome protested, ignoring Inu-Yasha's jealous growl. "And his hair is so pretty! Why does he have to be so yummy?"

"He can't help looking good," the Creator sighed. She turned, offering a final word as she left the room. "Sesshomaru's really not sexy; you know. He's just drawn that way."

The room fell silent after the Creator's departure. "Well, what are we going to do with all of this leftover Viagra?" Kagome finally asked, kicking at an empty bottle as she spoke.

"Inu-Yasha's looking good right now," Kiria spoke, new hope in her eyes.

"I've got a headache," the hanyou replied, ducking behind Kagome.

**……**

**A/N:** All I'm going to say is – blame Wheezambu. She _double-dog-demon_ dared me to write this. It's laughingly dedicated to the fangirl in all of us.

Because of the nature of this dare, I didn't feel comfortable asking my beta to waste her time checking my grammar. (Besides, I've already loaded her down with all my other stuff.) So, the multiple comma-splices and random split infinitives are mine, and mine alone.

Additional inspiration for this fic was the movie _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_, with Jessica Rabbit's famous line: "I'm not really bad; I'm just drawn that way."

_Lavender_


End file.
